Manifestations of Kingella kingae infections in adults: resemblance to neisserial infections.

Kingella kingae is a rare human pathogen. Most reported infections are in children and involve endocardium, vascular space, and skeletal tissues. We report herein two cases of K. kingae infection recently seen in adults. Kingella kingae caused acute meningitis in a patient with sickle cell anemia and in the second patient with alcoholic liver disease, sepsis with a petechial rash. The clinical presentation due to K. kingae closely resembled that caused by related Neisseria genus.

Isospora belli and Cryptosporidium sp. from a patient not suspected of having acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Several protozoa including Cryptosporidium sp. and Isospora belli were found in a stool specimen from a patient not suspected of having Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). As a result of the parasitologic findings, serologic tests were ordered that verified the diagnosis of AIDS. All stool specimens are routinely tested for presence of acid fast organisms with a modified acid fast technique.

Tetanus in a patient with frostbite: a case report.

Tetanus occurs in all ages, it can be associated with puncture wounds, war injuries, burns, ear infections, umbilical stump and post partum infections, and heroin abuse.5 Recently, we treated a patient who developed tetanus following frostbite of both feet. The patient had been previously immunized against tetanus, and was receiving antibiotics when the disease became manifest.

Identification of Anaplasmataceae (Haemobartonella) antigen and antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Free antigen related to Anaplasma marginale (AM) (Haemobartonella) was demonstrated in the glomeruli of one patient with lupus nephritis. Indirect fluorescent antibodies against this rickettsia were demonstrated in all of 22 lupus sera tested, with titers ranging from 1:20 to 1:1280. Geometric mean titer (GMT) was 116. Fifty-eight percent of 102 controls did not react to AM by indirect fluorescent antibody technique, and GMT of all controls was 10.7 Immunofluorescence was eliminated by neutralization and blocking techniques.

Suppurative lymphadenitis with Yersinia enterocolitica.

Extraintestinal suppurative complications of Yersinia enterocolitica infections are rarely observed. Two cases of suppurative lymphadenitis due to Yersinia enterocolitica are reported which mimicked other, more common disorders.

Outbreak of endocarditis caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa serotype O11 among pentazocine and tripelennamine abusers in Chicago.

At Cook County Hospital (Chicago), before 1977, the incidence of endocarditis caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa was one or two cases per year. The frequency of P. aeruginosa as an etiologic agent of endocarditis among drug abusers increased steadily from five (23%) of 22 patients in 1977 to 15 (68%) of 22 in 1980. P. aeruginosa serotype O11 accounted for 34 (76%) of 42 of the strains serotyped. The total increase in incidence of P. aeruginosa endocarditis that we observed can be attributed to disease caused by serotype O11. We serotyped 152 strains of P. aeruginosa obtained from hospital inpatients without endocarditis. Serotype O11 was the most frequently isolated type, accounting for 27% of the total. Incidence of serotype O11 in drug addicts with endocarditis is significantly higher than the incidence in patients with nonendocarditis infections (chi 2 = 32.89; P less than .001). There was a high degree of correlation between pentazocine and tripelennamine ("T's and Blues") abuse and endocarditis caused by P. aeruginosa (chi 2 = 36.71; P less than .001).

Acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis and pseudocyst due to mumps.

This is the first reported case of mumps hemorrhagic pancreatitis in a child, documented at operation, and by rising mumps titers and complicated by a pseudocyst. In severe cases when surgery is indicated, drainage of the lesser sac usually prevents pseudocyst formation. If a pseudocyst occurs, drainage is required to eliminate disabling pain and chronic pancreatitis. Live attenuated mumps vaccine may eliminate this source of pancreatitis from American children in the future.

Coccidioidomycosis of the uterus.

We have described a case of coccidioidomycosis of the endometrium in a postpartum woman, living in a nonendemic area, who presented with vaginal bleeding. Diagnosis was made by demonstration of spherules in the endometrial biopsy and culture of the tissue. Eight cases of coccidioidomycosis involving the female genital tract have been reported so far. Of these, three patients died of dissemination.

Clinical significance of tolerant strains of Staphylococcus aureus in patients with endocarditis.

We have studied 50 cases of endocarditis and 54 cases of bacteremia due to Staphylococcus aureus to ascertain the clinical significance of the newly described phenomenon of tolerance. In 32 of the patients with endocarditis and 35 of those with bacteremia strains were classified as tolerant (minimum bactericidal concentration/minimum inhibitory concentration greater than or equal to 16). Patients with endocarditis due to a tolerant strain responded less favorably than did patients with a sensitive strain. A larger number of patients with a tolerant strain had prolonged fever (58% versus 19%), a higher mean number of complications (1.6 versus 0.73), a greater number of intensive-care unit admissions (66% versus 33%), and a higher mortality (25% versus 11%). In contrast there was no difference in response to therapy in bacteremic patients without endocarditis having sensitive and tolerant strains. We conclude that infection with a tolerant organism adversely influences the outcome of staphylococcal endocarditis.

The role of adenoviruses in the pertussis syndrome.

To define the role of adenoviruses in the pertussis syndrome, a study was done of a group of 134 children with clinical pertussis and a healthy control population of similar age, race, sex, and socioeconomic status. Adenovirus infections occurred in 30 (22.4%) of 134 patients with the pertussis syndrome and 5 (4.9%) of 101 control subjects (p smaller than 0.001). B. pertussis was recovered from 46 (34.3%) patients, and from 18 (39.1%) of these patients adenoviruses were also isolated. Although adenovirus infections also occurred in patients with the pertussis syndrome with negative cultures for B. pertussis, the rate, 12 of 88 patients (13.6%), was significantly lower (p smaller than 0.001). The clinical course was similar irrespective of the results of bacterial or viral cultures. These data substantiate the frequent association of adenoviruses with the pertussis syndrome, It would appear that adenoviruses do not usually have an independent role in the pathogenesis of the pertussis syndrome since we found them so commonly to be one agent in a mixed infection.

Vibrio metschnikovii bacteremia in a patient with cholecystitis.

Vibrio metschnikovii was isolated from the blood of an 82-year-old patient with peritonitis and an inflamed gallbladder. This is probably the first clinically significant isolate of this new vibrio.

Primary meningococcal pericarditis.

We have described two patients with primary meningococcal pericarditis. The first patient required open surgical drainage. In the second patient, pericardiectomy was eventually required. Thirteen cases of primary meningococcal pericarditis have now been reported. All the patients survived, in contrast to purulent pericarditis of other causes.

Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis due to a group IIk-2 strain.

This paper describes a patient with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis caused by a group IIk-2 strain. No other organism was isolated from the peritoneal fluid cultured aerobically and anaerobically.

Rotavirus infection in normal nursery: epidemic and surveillance.

Human rotavirus (HRV) epidemics have not been reported in normal full-term newborn nurseries in the US. This report describes an epidemic from April 27 to May 6, 1982 in which 23 infants were infected. Diagnosis was confirmed with Rotazyme (Abbott) in 82% (23/28) of the neonates screened. Five were asymptomatic; in the remaining 18 cases, the symptoms were usually mild and self-limited. Transient shedding of the virus was found in 8% (4/52) of personnel screened, and only one of them was symptomatic. Control measures included the following: strict cohorting, closure of transitional nursery, enteric precautions and wiping of horizontal surfaces with 95% ethyl alcohol which has been shown to be an effective virucidal agent for rotavirus in laboratories. Follow-up in 80 of 108 contact neonates born during the epidemic showed only two mildly symptomatic cases after discharge. During an 11-month period of surveillance, 33% of neonates (1,688/5,054) born at Cook County Hospital were screened for excretion of virus in stools; only 3.6% of infants (61/1,688) were positive by Rotazyme and none were symptomatic. This report suggests that strict measures are helpful in control of HRV epidemic gastroenteritis and asymptomatic shedding need not be as high as the previously reported incidence of 40% to 50%.